The two-semester Animation Production Studio is an intensive introduction to the animated film process. In the first semester, students pitch ideas to a team and choose a story together, then create preproduction concept art and storyboards before developing hand-draw or build stop-motion assets. In the second semester, students continue to build and refine the film, presenting it in May at Manifest.
Mirroring the gaming industry production model, the Game Studio Capstone allows students to work in small (Indie Game Studio) or large (Large Team Game Studio) groups to develop a game. Collaborative teams of seniors in Game Art, Game Design, Game Programming, and Game Sound make the creative decisions, divide up the work, and manage the project. Over the course of two semesters, teams pitch initial concepts, design all the necessary art and sound assets, test prototypes, and deliver a playable game.
In the Interactive Arts and Media Team capstone course, students perform an integral role within an interactive production team tasked with solving a problem for a real client. This course tests technical and creative skills and, most importantly, the ability to work collaboratively. By the end of their senior year, student teams create and deploy real solutions for real clients like the Special Olympics, Six Flags, the Field Museum, and other companies in Chicagoland and beyond.
